Process and apparatus for the treatment of textile materials subjected to a longitudinal stress



Juiy 14, 1970 H. FLEISSNER 3,520,068

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF TEXTILE MATERIALS SUBJECTED TO A LONGITUDINAL STRESS Filed June 18, 1968 Fig. 1 k

, I) I5 I 1/ In van for United States Patent 3,520,068 PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR THE TREAT- MENT OF TEXTILE MATERIALS SUBJECTED TO A LONGITUDINAL STRESS Heinz Fleissner, Egelsbach, near Frankfurt am Main, Germany, assignor to VEPA AG. Filed June 18, 1968, Ser. No. 737,916 Claims priority, applitgatigg Germany, June 23, 1967,

US. Cl. 34-9 21 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure is directed to an apparatus for the treatment of textile materials which comprises a first holding and drawing system and a second holding and drawing system, each of said systems containing several roller means, and at least one permeable heating-up and conveying means subjected to an excess pressure or a suction draft disposed between said first and second holding and drawing systems. The present disclosure is also directed to the process for the treatment of textile materials subjected to a longitudinal stress using the above-described apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a process and apparatus for the treatment of textile materials subjected to a lengthwise or longitudinal stress, for example for drawing tow of synthetic fibers or for mercerizing yarn or cotton fabric, whereby the textile material is conveyed under a tensile stress on at least one holding and drawing system and on a sieve drum means subjected to a suction draft or a positive pressure.

It is well known to draw tows, after spinning, between drawing systems. In one device, the tows are passed freely hanging through heating ducts in which they are jetted with steam or heated by means of infrared radiation. Thus it is important, especially if several tows are arranged side by side so that working widths of about 600 to 1000 mm., for example, are obtained, that the tows are heated up uniformly during the entire treatment process. With the known heating ducts it has been attempted to ensure the uniform heating-up of the tows by providing the heating duets with a double jacket housing which is heated by means of a liquid heat carrier, for example diphyl. Heating ducts are also well known in which the material is heated-up by contact with a stationary, heated, usually bent surface usually called an iron, or by drawing the material over several stationary heated tubes. However, these devices incorporate the disadvantages that the outer fibers of the tow are heated up to a greater extent and can be more readily drawn than the inner fibers and thus the fiber properties are influenced differently. Furthermore, the heating ducts have the disadvantage that they must be of considerable length in order to obtain a good material quality. Thus, the heated ducts frequently have lengths of up to about meters.

In other processes, the tows are drawn in a liquid. For these processes also, very long bowls are required. In some devices the last or the last two godets of the first drawing system are heated to obtain a quicker heating-up of the material. Although in these situations the running speed can be increased, the heating-up of the material substantially varies, that is, the threads which come into direct contact with the heated godet are heated-up to higher temperatures than the overlying threads or threads which do not contact with the heated godet.

In drawing the tow during fiber production, different tensile stresses are encountered which vary according to the particular production method used but which, however, generally range between about 1 and 6 metric tons. For this reason, the well known unilaterally supported drawing systems have been provided as conveying and drawing elements. The unilateral support of these drawing systems is provided in order to enable a rapid threading of the tow around the' godets when the line is started up.

High tensile stresses also occur in mercerizing yarns and fabrics of cotton. Here the textile material is immersed in a lye and, at the same time, is subjected to a heavy tensile stress. By this treatment, the cotton receives a silky luster. Also, with this process a uniform action of the lye is obtained only after an extended time, so that the textile" material must be immersed several times which renders the device correspondingly large and expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of thepresent invention is to avoid the prior art disadvantages in the treatment of textile materials subjected to a lengthwise stress.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved process and apparatus for the treatment of textile materials wherein both the outer and inner fibers of the material being treated are effectively heated-up thereby producing uniform fiber properties.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved process and apparatus for the treatment of textile materials wherein large and expensive treatment devices are substantially avoided.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved process and apparatus for the treatment of textile materials wherein a completely uniform and extremely rapid heating-up or wetting-out of the textile material is effected so that the treatment is considerably equalized and substantially shorter.

Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter; it should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiment of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

Pursuant to the present invention, it has been found that the above-mentioned disadvantages may be eliminated and a much improved process and aparatus for the treatment of textile materials may be obtained by guiding the textile material in front of, behind and/or between holding and drawing systems on at least one permeable conveying element, for example, a sieve drum, and by having the textile material disposed on said drum penetrated by a treatment medium. The penetration of the textile material, for example the tow or the cotton material, ensures a completely uniform and extremely rapid heating-up or wetting-out of said material so that the treatment is considerably equalized and also substantially shorter.

Such a device, may, for example, comprise two holding or drawing systems, each system containing several rollers, with at least one permeable, heating-up and/or conveying element, for example, a sieve drum which is arranged between the drawing systems, and/or instead of at last one godet of the first drawing system. A device which passes the treatment medium flow through the conveying element and the textile material disposed thereon is associated with the permeable conveying element. The treatment medium may include steam, heated air or a liquid. It is advantageous if the permeable conveying element, for example the sieve drum, is accommodated in a treatment chamber and if the holding and drawing sys;

tems are arranged outside the treatment chamber at the inlet and at the discharge end of said chamber, in order to draw the textile material over the sieve drum means. The sieve drum means may be subjected to a suction draft or to an excess pressure (blowing effect) and may be supported as rotating or stationary.

When a godet of a drawing system is designed as a perforated roller as well as when a perforated sieve drum is provided between the holding and drawing systems, it is advantageous to arrange the holding and drawing systems in a treatment chamber. It is thereby possible to expose the holding and drawing systems to the recirculating treat ment medium atmosphere. However, in some cases it is more expedient to separate the treatment chamber with the recirculated treatment medium from the holding and drawing systems by means of partitions.

Because of the heavy tensile stress, a concentric support of the sieve drum is in many cases not sufiicient or a too costly construction would be required. Accordingly, it is suggested to support the sieve drum on rolls or rollers and also concentrically in some cases. If the heating-up and/or conveying element is subjected to a suction draft, it is advantageous to facilitate detachment of the threads at the discharge side of the conveying element, for example a sieve drum, by blowing said threads off of said sieve drum. In the case of using a sieve drum subjected to a suction draft in which the suction draft is interrupted by a bafile means at that portion of said drum which is not covered with the material being treated, this can be achieved by providing a blower which is effective at the discharge side of the sieve drum at the point where the suc tion draft is interrupted by said bafiie means. By disposing the jet of the blower at the point where the suction draft is interrupted by the baffle means at the discharge side, the suction draft of the sieve drum does not reduce the eifect of the blower.

Furthermore, it is suggested to polish the sieve drum jacket and to provide it with small perforations, preferably perforations with a hole diameter of less than about mm. Because of the substantial tensile stress, the sieve drum jacket must be very rugged. Thus, sheets with a thickness of 3 mm. must generally be used. However, since with this thickness it is not possible to punch a perforation with a small hole diameter, it is suggested to make the sieve drum with a thick metal jacket with large holes and to arrange over the metal jacket a widemeshed wire mesh fabric or other supporting elements and dispose on the wire mesh and/or the supporting element a thin polished metal jacket with small perforations. Such a drum can be manufactured much more readily and at less expense than a thick-walled drum with small holes, which would have to be drilled. For wetdrawing and mercerizing, it is suggested to arrange the sieve drum at least partially in a treatment bath and to provide it with a device which ensures the liquor penetration. In the case of a mercerizing bath, generally a pair of squeeze rollers sufiices as a holding system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS present invention using a bowl for the wet-treatment of the textile material.

4 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals are used throughout the various views to designate like parts, the apparatus of the present invention comprises a heat-insulated housing 1 containing a drawing system 2 a sieve drum 3 subjected to a suction draft and a second drawing system 4. The textile material 5 to be treated is penetrated on the sieve drum by steam or heated air and is thus heated to the drawing temperature uniformly and shock-like. In the sieve drum a baffle 6 is provided at that portion of said sieve drum which is not covered with the material being treated. Outside the sieve drum two rollers 7 are provided for a reinforced support of the sieve drum. At the material discharge side of the sieve drum a blower 8 is provided for readily detaching the textile material from said drum so that even at very high speeds, breakage of the fibrils of the tows is effectively avoided. By using this blower, the danger of lap formation in case of fibrils and/or tow breakage is also widely eliminated.

In the apparatus according to FIG. 2, the sieve drum 3 is subjected to an excess internal pressure (blowing effect), so that the treatment medium, for example air or steam, is blown out of the sieve drums and through the material disposed therein. In this embodiment of the present invention an additional blower at the discharge side of the sieve drum is not required. The holding and drawing systems 2 and 4 are separated from a treatment chamher 9 through which the steam flows by means of partitions 10 which preferably are arranged at the same level or at a lower level than the baffle, so that a flow of the treatment medium into the space where the drawing systems are disposed is substantially avoided.

The apparatus according to FIG. 3 is utilized for wetdrawing. It has no common closed housing for the treatment medium but rather a sieve drum 3- which is immersed in a separate bath 11 is correlated to the drawing systems 2 and 4. In the sieve drum, bafiies 12 and at least one pump 13 with a motor 14 which is situated outside the liquid, are provided. The pump draws in the treatment liquid in one area and discharges it in another area. It is advantageous if the liquid is drawn in in the inlet area and is discharge in the discharge area of the sieve drum, since in this way proper detachment of the material from the sieve drum is ensured, even at very high speeds, for example at speeds of about to 200 m./ min. In order to remove the liquid which has been carried along from the tow, a stripper 15 is arranged behind the sieve drum 3 and in front of the drawing system 4. This stripper may be arranged at the outer side as well as the inner side of the material being treated or at both sides if necessary.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.

It is claimed:

1. An apparatus for reducing the elongation and increasing the tensile strength of textile materials which comprises a substantially heat-insulated treatment chamber, a first holding and drawing system and a second holding and drawing system for conveying the material under tension, each of said systems containing a plurality of roller means, and at least one permeable heating-up and conveying means subjected to an excess pressure or a suction draft disposed between said first and second holding and drawing systems, said first and second holding and drawing systems and the permeable heating-up and conveying means being rotatably disposed in said treatment chamber.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein more than one permeable heating-up and conveying means is utilized and additional holding and drawing systems are disposed between said heating-up and conveying means.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the conveying means is a sieve drum means subjected to a suction draft and contains a battle means at that portion of the sieve drum means which is not covered with the material being treated, said sieve drum means containing a blower means at the discharge side of the sieve drum means where the baffle means interrupts the suction draft, thereby facilitating the removal of the material being treated from the sieve drum means.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein support rollers are associated with the lower portion of the sieve drum means.

-5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the roller means of the holding and drawing systems are disposed in two rows, staggered with respect to each other.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the roller means of the holding and drawing systems are perforated.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the conveying means is a sieve drum means subjected to a positive internal pressure and contains a bafile means at that portion of the sieve drum means which is not covered with the material being treated.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein partition means are provided at the baffle means to separate said housing into an upper treatment chamber and a lower chamber, the surface of the sieve drum means containing the material being treated being disposed in the treatment chamber and the holding and drawing systems being disposed in the lower chamber.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein support rollers are associated with the lower portions of the sieve drum means.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the roller means of the holding and drawing systems are disposed in two rows, staggered with respect to each other.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the conveying means is a sieve drum means disposed in a treatment bath containing a treatment liquor said sieve drum means containing baffle means associated with at least one pump means such that the treatment liquor is drawn into the sieve drum means through the material disposed thereon in one area and discharged from the sieve drum means through the material disposed thereon in another area.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the treatment liquor is drawn into the sieve drum means at the inlet area of said drum and discharged from the sieve drum i means at the outlet area of said drum.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein a stripper means is associated with the material being treated behind the sieve drum means and in front of the holding and drawing system to remove the liquor which is carried along by the material being treated.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein roller means are associated with the upper portion of the sieve drum means.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the roller means of the holding and drawing systems are disposed in two rows, staggered with respect to each other.

16. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the sieve drum means has a polished jacket with small perforations having a hole diameter of less than about 5 mm.

17. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the sieve drum means comprises a thick metal jacket with large holes said jacket containing a wide-meshed wire mesh cover and provided with a polished metal jacket with small perforations.

18. A process for drawing synthetic fibers and for mercerizing cellulosic fibers which comprises conveying said material under a tensile stress through a heated treatment medium on a first holding and drawing system, drawing said fibers to orient the filament molecules thereby enhancing the chemical and physical properties thereof, conveying said material on a sieve drum means subjected to a suction draft or a positive pressure and conveyning said material on a second holding and drawing system, said materials being penetrated by the treatment medium during said treatment.

19. The process of claim 18, wherein the material is conveyed on the holding and drawing systems while not exposed to the treatment medium and the sieve drum means is subjected to a positive internal pressure thereby forcing the treatment medium from the inside to the outside of the sieve drum and through the material disposed thereon.

2'(). The process of claim 18, wherein the sieve drum means conveys the material through a treatment bath containing a treatment liquor instead of through a heated treatment medium and the treatment liquor is drawn into the sieve drum means at the point where the material initially contacts the sieve drum means and is discharged from the sieve drum means at the point where the material leaves the sieve drum means.

21. The process of claim 18, wherein the sieve drum means is subjected to a suction draft and the material being treated is blown away from the sieve drum means at its discharge side.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,685,427 9/1928 Lorenz 34-16 2,174,744 10/1939 Hill 34122 3,430,352 3/1969 Fleissner 3416 X JOHN J. CAMBY, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

